BUDGET HELP

 

Following are explanations of budget entries with a suggestion of what might be a reasonable number to put in:

 

  Flock size Pretty straight forward, but you can keep changing numbers to see how it affects the outcome.
  Lambing rate The number of lambs you expect to get from a ewe per year.  It is often expressed as a percent, e.g. 1 lamb per ewe per year equals 100% lambing rate, 2 lambs per ewe per year equals 200% lambing rate.  It takes a high degree of management to reach a 200% lambing rate, yet many ewes will have twins, so a 150% lambing rate is a reasonable place to start.  It is interesting to see how a higher lambing rate can change your net return.
  Ewe culling rate This is the number of ewes you expect to lose each year from old age, health problems, etc.  It will vary from year to year, but an average of 15% of your flock is a good place to start.  (This also means that if you intend to keep your flock at the same size, you must keep an equal number of your ewe lambs to replace the animals culled.)
     
Receipts    
  Wool The price of wool for the past few years has been almost non-existent, at least for run-of-the-mill commercial wool.  Unless you have a specific market in mind, such as hand spinners, I would not put in more than $0.30 per lb and that might be optimistic.  The Vermont state average weight of a fleece (sheared once a year) is about 71/2 lbs.  If you are raising sheep for wool production, you need to change the weight of the fleece accordingly.
  Lambs Lambs are typically sold by so much per pound live weight or so much per pound carcass weight, sometimes referred to as hanging weight.  The carcass weight will be approximately 45% of the live weight, e.g. a lamb that weighs100 lbs live weight will have an estimated carcass or hanging weight of 45 lbs.  The price you receive per lb will vary, depending on how and where you sell your lambs.  Just make sure that you enter liveweight if you enter price per lb liveweight or carcass weight if you enter price per lb carcass weight.
  Cull ewes There is a market for old cull ewes.  A realistic price is about $25 per ewe, usually delivered to the buyer.
     
Variable Cost   Feed will no doubt make up the largest share of expense and grain can easily be a large part of that.  Grass, if available, will usually be the cheapest feed for sheep.  So, if cost is a factor, utilizing grass to the maximum is a must.
  Grain Grain cost can vary considerably, depending on your style of management.  The amount fed can rang from none on a completely grass based operation, to considerable if you are finishing lambs on grain.  If we assume an operation that feeds a modest amount of grain, it might look something like this:
 
Flushing ewes at breeding time with 1 lb of grain per day for three weeks...

21 lbs
Feeding ewes one lb of grain per day for 6 weeks at lambing… 42 lbs
Rams feeding 1 lb per day for three weeks at flushing only... 21 lbs
Market Lambs, creep feed and a small supplement for pasture… 50 lbs
Replacement lambs, the 50 lbs for creep feed and pasture supplement plus and additional 25 lbs… (If you plan to keep your flock at the same size, you replacement lambs would be the same number as your cull ewes above.) 75 lbs
 
Assuming a grain for ewes and rams is $7.00 per 50 lb bag and grain for lambs is $8.00 per 50 lb bag, the grain cost per ewe would be $ 8.82, grain cost per ram would be $ 2.94, grain cost per Market lamb would be $ 8.00 and the grain cost per replacement ewe would be $12.
  Hay If we assume that hay is only fed when no grass is available, we will need to feed for about 6 months, from November to the first part of May.  A 154 lb mature ewe needs about 5 lbs of moderate quality hay per day for a total of 900 lbs.  If we allow for a little over eating and hay wasted, the realistic total is probably closer to 1500 lbs total per ewe per winter (let’s assume the same for the ram).  Most market lambs that are born in the spring are gone before winter comes, so lets assume no hay for market lambs and we will treat a replacement lamb the same as a ewe (1500 lbs).  Hay prices and quality vary a lot,  but if we assume good hay is $114 per ton (this is about $ 2.00 per bale for a 35 lb bale), it is going to cost $85.50 for hay for each ewe, ram and replacement ewe.
  Minerals  Minerals are not a great expense, maybe $3 or $4 per ewe (ram) per year.
  Pasture You will really not know what your pasture cost is going to be until you have kept records for a couple of years.  Sheep fencing will be the largest pasture expense, but because fence is a 5 or 10 year investment, it can be amortized over 5 or 10 years, e.g. an initial investment of $2,500 in fencing could be charged at the rate of $250 per year for 10 years.  You could also include such things as a share of machinery used in the farming operation, insurance or taxes.  If you spent money to initially reseed your pasture, you could also amortize that cost over 5 or 10 years.  To start with, however, you may want to just leave it blank. 
  Pasture maintenance Soil amendments

 Any annual soil amendments such as lime, rock phosphate, or fertilizer can be entered here.
Fencing All fences will need some maintenance, especially after a winter with a lot of snow.  You will need a history of your fence to put in a real accurate number.  I estimate that it cost me $0.20 per foot of fence per year for maintenance.  This includes replacing broken post, repairing broken wires and keeping the fence clear of trees, weeds and grass.
  Veterinary / Medicine  Veterinary expenses usually are higher with beginner sheep producers.  As you gain experience treating sheep, you will be able to treat more and more of them yourself.  Some cost you will not be able to get away from such as anthelmintics for the treatment of internal worms.  Between $5 and $10 per ewe is a reasonable number to start with and maybe $2 per lamb.  This is a tricky one, because several vet visits will increase this cost astronomically if you only have a few sheep.
  Bedding Bedding can range from wasted hay (still a cost) to buying straw one bale at a time (about $5.00 each).  I tend to not spend much on bedding except at lambing time.  My preference then is a layer of sawdust or shavings to soak up liquids and a layer of straw on top of it.  I probably spend between $5 and $6 per ewe on bedding.
  Utilities Utilities will not be a lot of money unless you are running a bunch of heat lamps or heating an area specifically for sheep.  I charge about ¼ of my utility bill for farm use.  If your utility use is just an occasional light, I would leave it blank.
  Marketing Some coops charge a specific marketing fee.  You could charge such things as auction commission, transportation to market, ads in the local paper, etc. for marketing.  If you have not marketed anything yet, maybe just leave blank.
     
Fixed Costs   Most small producers ignore fixed cost.  However, if you want your cost to reflect the true cost of you business, you should include a share for your sheep operation.
  Depreciation As you use facilities, they eventually wear out.  This is not a “cash–out-of-pocket” cost, but if you have to replace stuff eventually, it is a true cost.
  Taxes One of the certain things of life, you can charge a percentage of your taxes to your sheep operation.
  Insurance Same as taxes.
  Repairs Any major repair that you do not bill as a variable cost, you can list under here.
  Interest  Same as taxes and insurance.